Alex Neil

Last season Alex Neil did an amazing job getting an underperforming group of players, probably the best squad in the league, to play as a team and to their potential which saw us fly up the league and ultimately glory at Wembley.

This season its the complete opposite he needs to get one of the worst squad of players in the league to play above themselves ala Paul Lambert did with an ever poorer squad in my opinion in our 1st in the prem under him. He needs to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. It's very much a learning curve for Alex as he's young and never played in this league let alone managed in it but currently I'm not sure he's managing to make the whole greater than the parts. This has not been helped by his seismic change in tactics from possession based to all out defence in the last few weeks and his constant chopping and changing of personnel.

I really think he is a bright young manager with a lot going for him and we all have to stick by him and keep supporting him and even I was shocked at people calling for his head on CC on Saturday. I do howevercontinue to get the feeling that it could be a task too far for him at this early stage of his managerial career to keep us in the prem especially given that the board have not helped him one bit.

In terms of transfers I feared his low profile playing career and limited name in the wider world of football would not have helped us attract players in the summer and I fear this added to our precarious position in the table will put off potential targets again in Jan. I hope however I am proved wrong and he signs a few more gems like Robbie Brady rather than duds like Tony Andreu who I see now can't even get in the Rotherham match day squad.

If results don't go well in the next few games and we continue to play defensive football then I fear the rumblings of discontent will get greater very quickly and the confidence of Alex Neil may slip away.

Posted By: happy clappy hughes, Dec 7, 13:58:31